MK, a colossus, gets portrait in Assembly Hall

Chennai

It would not be an exaggeration to say that the man around whom the state politics revolved around for nearly half a century has been immortalised in the hall. Karunanidhi, who had won all 13 Assembly elections he had contested and served as CM for 17 years, longest for any leader in the state, had dominated the political discourse of the state and steered most reforms.

President Ram Nath Kovind and Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit rightly summed up the stature of Karunanidhi by recalling the legislations enacted on various spheres during his chief ministership.

That Karunanidhi was the most reformist chief minister of the state could be understood from a simple recap of some of the laws and schemes he had envisioned. Karunanidhi had envisioned property rights for women in ancestral property, augmented reservation limit for OBCs, abolished hand pulled rickshaws, passed an Assembly resolution for state autonomy and his consistent pressure led to the Union government passing the Official Languages Act with exemption to Tamil Nadu.

“Only the Tamil Nadu Assembly led by him had passed a legislation scrapping entrance examination for professional examinations. The extension of Karunanidhi’s commitment could be seen in the present Stalin led DMK regime’s stand on banning NEET. It should not stop with unveiling his portrait. His party’s government should celebrate him by sticking to his ideology,” said Kolathur TS Mani, president of Dravidar Viduthalai Kazhagam.

In combining the centenary of the legislature and unveiling of the portrait, the DMK regime has demonstrated how inseparable the political history and Karunanidhi’s life are. Political commentator Aazhi Senthilnathan said the celebration is a statement by Stalin that his government would be driven by the ideology of Anna and MK. The portrait is a tribute to the leader who has spoken the maximum in the House.